


The Reunion

by Singstar234



Series: The Countdown [16]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III Misses Toothless, Parent Toothless, Post-How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Protective Toothless (How to Train Your Dragon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:33:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22834108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Singstar234/pseuds/Singstar234
Summary: 11 years can be a long time. Some people always remember who their friends were, but what about dragons?
Relationships: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Astrid Hofferson, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Toothless, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson
Series: The Countdown [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1633771
Kudos: 55





	The Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> This was written BEFORE I saw The Hidden World. This was my idea of how Toothless would of reacted to seeing Hiccup again after so many years apart.

When Astrid suggested that he took the day of to spend a couple of days with her and little Stoick he thought it would be a great idea. His mum was left in charge of the village while the family sailed away from Berk. Astrid hadn't told Hiccup where they were going just yet, saying that it was going to be a surprise. Stoick was really impatient, begging his mum to tell him, but Astrid just smiled at her son telling him that they would be there by sun rise.

It was during the late night Astrid realised why she felt colder than before she went to bed. Hiccup wasn't with her. Astrid looked around and saw that Stoick was still laying next to her on her left, his thumb in his mouth and brown hair just about covering his eyes. Slowly and carefully Astrid slid out of the bed and made her way up to the deck. It didn't take long for her to find her husband. Hiccup was sitting on the edge of the ship, holding onto the part that holds the sail. His left leg hung on the inside of the ship while his right was bent on the edge.

She slowly made her way over to him, moving some of her blond hair away from her eyes as the wind made it fly around. Once she was in reach she placed her arms round his waist and her chin on his left shoulder. She felt Hiccup move his left arm so his hand was now resting on top of hers. They stayed silent like this for a few moments before he finally talked.

"I can still hear him." He said quietly. Astrid didn't say a word, just listened. "I know its just my imagination, but.. there are some nights I am almost certain his is outside calling me. I know for the first couple of years I would go outside and look up, hoping he was there but in the end he never was. And I know he never will be. But tonight, I was almost certain he was here. I could hear him, I know I did, but it was just all a dream again. Either that or I'm just going crazy."

"Or maybe your just desperate to see him again." Astrid suddenly said. Hiccup turned his head a little but soon looked down. "Its been 11 years, Hiccup. And it's okay to miss him. I miss all of them, every single day. But, I think we both know the truth."

She hated how harsh it sounded but they both agreed years ago to not get their hope up. That their dragons won't be coming back.

She leaned in a gave Hiccup a small kiss on the cheek. "Come on inside. We'll be at the island by sunrise so you can still get a couple hours sleep."

"You telling me where we're going yet?" Hiccup asked as he stood back on the ship. Astrid smirked at him.

"Not on your life." She answered back. Hiccup gave her a smile as she led him back down below the ship.

**XxxxX**

Like Astrid had said, the ship docked at the island early in the morning. Hiccup didn't recognise the island at first an till he saw a couple of wrecked pillars by the island. A smile grew on Hiccup's face.

"Where are we, mum?" Stoick asked. Astrid looked down at her 8 year old son.

"We're on Itchy Armpit Island." Astrid answered. Stoick laughed at the name.

"Who called it Itchy Armpit, that's silly." Stoick giggled. Astrid looked over to Hiccup, who looked a little embarrassed.

"Well, your father of course." Astrid answered. Stoick laughed a little more.

"Really dad?" Hiccup sighed.

"Well it wasn't just me. Toothless gave me the idea." Hiccup told him.

"Really? You and your dragon named the island?" Stoick said with excitement.

"We sure did. And you know what?" Hiccup said as he knelt down to his son's level. He then pointed to the hill in front of them. "If we go up this hill you might see the broken trees from where Toothless and I crashed onto the island."

Stoick's eyes widened before quickly sprinting of towards the hill, not bothering to wait for his parents. Hiccup smiled and he stood back up, watching his son run of up the hill, tripping every now and again. Astrid walked over and placed a arm around his waist. Hiccup followed her lead.

"Why here?" Hiccup asked without looking down at his wife. Astrid shrugged.

"To be honest I'm not entirely sure myself. I had been thinking about this place for a while now. Maybe because it was the last addition to the map you made." Astrid said.

"The island that we discovered that led to finding my mum." Hiccup added. "Of course Toothless and I never would of found it if it wasn't for me wanting to test my flight suit." Astrid laughed a little.

"I remember that thing. I did tell you that I would lock you up if you invented it." Astrid reminded him.

"Actually you said you would look me up if I ever said 'Dragon Fly 2', and technically I never said those words." Hiccup pointed out. "To think if it wasn't for that old thing I may have never found her."

"I wouldn't be so sure. You and Toothless properly would of come across her Ice Cave eventually." Astrid told him. "I wonder if its even still there."

"Properly not. The ice would of most likely of melted by now. Besides, I don't really see much reason to going back there anyway." Hiccup said.

"What about maybe going to-"

"Mum! Dad! Quick!" Stoick's voice suddenly cut Astrid of. The parents looked at each other before rushing up the hill, panicked by what their son may be yelling about. Hiccup took out his sword while Astrid took out a dagger she carried round with her, annoyed that she left her axe back on the ship.

Once the couple had made it to the top of the hill they quickly noticed something. Stoick wasn't in their sights. "Stoick?!" Astrid yelled.

No answer.

"Stoick?!" Hiccup yelled this time.

Still no answer.

"Stoick!" Astrid scream for her son.

Suddenly there was a rustle in the bushes in front of them. Hiccup walked in front of Astrid, holding his sword in front of him. He knew that Astrid was more than capable of defending herself, but with just a dagger he wasn't going to take any chances. The rustling quickly got louder and louder. What ever was coming towards them was coming at a fast pace. Hiccup raised his sword a little higher, ready to defend himself and Astrid when-

"Stoick!" Astrid yelled as she rushed over to her son. Hiccup sighed in relief as he placed his sword back in the holder. Astrid was holding onto her son by the arms, looking a little made. "Why didn't you call back when we were calling you?"

"I couldn't hear you. I was in the forest." Stoick told him mum.

"And what have we said about going into forests and places we don't know?" Hiccup asked his son. Stoick looked down.

"Never leave you eye sight. I'm sorry." Stoick apologised. Hiccup placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Its okay. Just try and remember for future." Hiccup said. Stoick nodded.

"Now, what is this thing you wanted us to see?" Astrid asked. Stoick's faces quickly lit up.

"Quick! You've got to see this!" He quickly grabbed his mothers hand and began to drag her through the bush and into the forest. Hiccup followed quickly behind.

The small family quickly found themselves in a small clearing in the forest. Stoick quickly pointed. "Look!" On the ground in front of them the dirt was shaped like a large animal had crashed or skidded on the ground. And then next to it was a couple of footprints, made from fresh mud. "It looks like a bear foot." Hiccup knelt down and looked closer a the footprints. Something about them looked familiar.

"No, I don't think its a bear. Its to big for that." Hiccup told him.

"What about a troll? They exists don't they?" Stoick asked. Hiccup shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe. I used to think they did, but I don't think its a troll either. The way its shaped, it looks more like a paw than a foot." Hiccup said.

"Hiccup." Hiccup turned around to see that Astrid was kneeling down on the ground not far from where the dirt was all messy. Hiccup stood back up and walked over to her. Quickly kneeling back down he looked over to her, seeing that she was holding something in her hand.

"What is it?" Instead of talking she showed what she was holding. It was black. It was round. It was thin. A scale?

Hiccup slowly put his hand out and took the scale into his hand brought it closer to his face. He suddenly realised, he had seen this scale before. The same place he had seen those footprints before. But that can't be possible. It shouldn't be. How can it? He looked over to Astrid who had the same look on her face as he did.

Then the noise. The high pitch noise that brought fear to every viking in the know land of Berk under 20 years ago. The same noise he had not heard for 11 years. It was heading for them. And in Stoick's direction.

Without realising what he was even doing Hiccup suddenly jumped to his feet and grabbed Stoick into him arms and threw the pair on to the floor, just as a purple blast hit the tree that was behind his son. Dirt had filled the air, making the 3 humans unable to see for a few moments.

Hiccup let out a couple of coughs before slowly sitting up and looking over to where he was originally standing. Astrid, who had jumped to the ground the same time as Hiccup, slowly began to sit up herself.

In front of them, standing low to the ground, their eyes in slits, teeth showing, and a low growl from their throat, was a Night Fury.

Hiccup almost wanted to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dream, because he had to be. Right? There is no way a dragon should be here, a Night Fury no less. But there were no more Night Furies. Grimmel had killed all of them. All except one.

Hiccup could see it. The eyes. Those big green eyes. That all he needed to confirm. It was him. It had to be.

"Dad?" Stoick suddenly said in his fathers arms.

The Night Fury suddenly turned in their direction with a growl. Hiccup placed a protective arm over his son. He kept on opening his mouth but no words were leaving. The dragon kept himself low to the ground, ready to attack at any sudden moments. Hiccup looked at him with confusion. Does he not remember him?

"Tooth-" As Hiccup reached forward the dragon suddenly let out a screeched and ran of further into the forest. "Toothless!"

"Dad, what was that?" Stoick asked, sounding a little scared. As Hiccup got onto his knees Astrid ran over.

"Hiccup, that was a-" she began to say.

"I know."

"Do you think it was-"

"It looked like it."

"But why was he-"

"I don't know." Hiccup sighed. Astrid looked panicked, either by the fact her husband and son were nearly killed or by the fact it was by a dragon, she wasn't entirely sure. "Take Stoick and go back to the ship."

"Hiccup, what-" Astrid said with confusion.

"Just go! I need to go after him." Hiccup told her.

"He just attacked us, Hiccup! It doesn't even look like he remembers you!" Astrid pointed out as she pointed her hand in the direction the Night Fury ran.

"He could just be confused. He's been underground for 11 years." Hiccup said.

"Exactly! He hasn't seen a human in 11 years. He might have even forgotten what we look like." Astrid pointed out.

"I need to know why he's here, and if any others are as well." Hiccup told her. "He won't hurt me. He never would." He then looked down at Stoick, who was looking a little scared.

"Dad, what's going on?" He asked. Hiccup placed a hand on his arms and helped his son to his feet. Once Stoick was standing Hiccup gave his son a serious but gentle look.

"I need you to go with you mum back to the ship and wait for me there, okay?" He said.

"B-but w-what about that... animal?" Stoick asked, unsure as to what to call it.

"I'm going to go after it and make sure its okay." Hiccup told him.

"You called it T-Toothless. That was you dragon's name." Stoick pointed out. Hiccup nodded.

"It was." Was all Hiccup said.

"Was that a dragon?" Stoick asked.

"I need you to go to the ship, and then when I come back I will explain everything to you, okay?" Hiccup said. Stoick nodded. "Okay thank you." He then passed him over to Astrid, who looked like she wanted to argue more. "Go."

With that last word he made his way through the forest.

Trying to remember everything he had taught himself as a kid he began to track for his friend. He would look at the footprints in the ground, the broken tree branches and the scales on the ground. Even with 3 things to look out for he was still having trouble tracking Toothless.

Toothless. He hadn't said that name in years. He was always afraid to say it, worried it would bring up bad memories more than the good ones. He remembered one time when Stoick had just turned one he had his first tooth growing through. He and Astrid were so excited. Then he ended up saying to him: "Not so toothless anymore.". It was with just that one sentence he was upset for the rest of the day. Valka had offered to take over for Hiccup for the day while Astrid's parents watched Stoick. Astrid just sat with Hiccup, holding him in her arms as he let the tears fall from his eyes.

They had both done it. There were some night Hiccup had caught Astrid with tears rolling down her face as she held her old saddle from when she was a teenager. Neither of them had the heart to get rid of anything from their Riding past. Hiccup even still kept his old prosthetic and stirrup. To each of the dragon riders, everything they had about their dragons was never to be throw away. It was a part of their past they wanted to keep and share with their children.

Stoick and the other kids loved the idea of flying in the air on a dragon so Hiccup invented a little stand where a saddle sat so the kids could sit on it. The stand moved a little side to side so it sort of gave them the idea of flying. It was a lot more fun for them to use when it got windy. And secretly every now and again Hiccup with sit on the saddle and just stare of into the distance, almost imagining he was flying again.

_Snap_

Hiccup was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't even hear the growling. Hiccup slowly came to a stop and looked around. He could hear the growling coming from somewhere but he wasn't entirely sure where. In his head he wanted to draw out his sword so he was protected, but in his heart he knew Toothless would never hurt him. But that was the old Toothless, was this dragon the same one Hiccup grew up with?

Rustling came from the bush next to him. Slowly Hiccup turned to face the bush and took a couple of steps back. He placed his hands in the air to show he would not be armed. Slowly a black scaly paw stepped out in front of the bush. Quickly followed by another. The Night Fury stepped out into the opening with caution. His eyes stayed on Hiccup, still with the pupils in slits. He looked more like a wild animal rather than the dragon he knew for 6 years.

The pair stood a few feet away from each other, unsure of how to act. All Hiccup wanted to do was to rush over and give his friend a hug but knew that wasn't possible at the moment. Toothless observed Hiccup from head to toe. There was something familiar about this human but he couldn't figure out what exactly.

As Hiccup went to take a step forward Toothless growled. Hiccup quickly froze and put his hands in the air. Hiccup looked down at his body to see what Toothless may be growling at when he quickly saw his sword. Using slow movements Hiccup unstrapped his sword from his waist and threw in away from himself. He almost wanted to laugh. First time he did that it was with a dagger barley bigger than his forearm, now it was with a sword. He certainly has come a long way.

He kind of wish he had some fish to give to Toothless but at the same time kind of grateful. He was so not eating regurgitated fish again.

He decided to take a risk. He needed to talk to him.

"Toothless?"

The Night Fury growled again.

"Easy, easy." Hiccup quickly said keeping his arm out in front of him. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

The Night Furies growls died down a little.

"Do you remember me?" No reaction. "It's Hiccup."

The Night Fury gave him no sign that he remembers his name.

"Do not remember me? I know I've changed a bit since I last saw you, but you... you still look like that same Toothless that bit of my leg." Hiccup said with a little laugh.

The Night Furies head tilted a little. Hiccup took this as a good sign.

"But hey, serves me right for shooting you down right?" Hiccup said. He quickly remembered something. "You tail fin? How is it?"

The Night Fury turned his head round and brought his tail fins into view. His left artificial tail fin still looked well and strong. Hiccup smiled.

"It still looks good a ever." The Night Fury then looked back over to Hiccup, his pupils no longer in slits. He suddenly looked relaxed, his eyes showing confusion and a bit of shock. He looked down at the mans left prosthetic, and then his eyes.

Hiccup looked saw that Toothless was possibly starting to remember him. Slowly he stuck out his right hand and looked away. Toothless looked at the man with his mouth open showing his toothless mouth. He suddenly began running over to the human.

Hiccup heard the paws running against the ground. As he turned around he saw the dragon rushing over, looking ready to attack him. The dragons mouth was open. The claws were stretched out. The dragon leapt and-

"Gah!" Hiccup yelled as Toothless began to slobber Hiccup with his saliva as he licked Hiccup's face. "Toothless you know that doesn't wash out!"

Toothless let out a little laughing noise as Hiccup began to crawl out from under the dragon. Hiccup smiled at Toothless, placing a hand on the dragons head. The pair stared at each other for a few moments before Hiccup placed his forehead against Toothless'. He actually couldn't believe what was happening. He almost didn't want to believe it. That he would wake up any moment now and this would of all been a dream.

The pair soon pulled away from each other and looked at each other once again. Hiccup ran his hand over his friends scaly face, remembering how the scales felt under his hands. "How are you, bud?" Toothless gave him a little 'coo' sound as he pushed his head against Hiccups hand. "How's that girlfriend of yours?" Hiccup asked.

Toothless looked at Hiccup before looking down at Hiccup's left hand where his gold ring was. He then looked back up at Hiccup. The Berk chief got an idea of what Toothless was trying to say. "Astrid and I are still together. We actually have a son now."

Suddenly Toothless's head shot up as he let out a little cry of panic. "W-what is it bud?" Toothless quickly put his nose to the floor and began to sniff around. Hiccup looked at his old friend with confusion. Was his dragon looking for someone? Once Toothless had found what he was looking for he quickly went running of into the forest again. "Hey wait up!" Hiccup yelled as he quickly went after the Night Fury.

The pair ran around for a few minutes before Toothless suddenly stopped running. Hiccup immediately recognised where they were. They were near to the ship. Near where Astrid and Stoick were. As Hiccup and Toothless went through the bushes they quickly came across something the caused Hiccup to gasp in shock. In front of the pair, with its back to them, was another Night Fury. This one however looked a lot younger than Hiccup based on its size. The dragon seemed to be looking down over the edge of the cliff they were near.

Suddenly without warning Toothless jumped forward and let a cry. The other Night Fury jumped and turned around, ready to attack. When the dragon saw Toothless he suddenly looked a little scared. The same kind of scared Hiccup got when he got busted by his dad as a kid.

Toothless began letting out little cries, like he was yelling at the young Night Fury. The dragon slowly began to look guilty as it lowered its head down. Hiccup quickly noticed that this Night Fury had light blue eyes rather an bright green eyes like Toothless had. This dragon's scales also were a little bit lighter than Toothless, but not to much.

As Hiccup kept on observing this new dragon Toothless had walked over to the Night Fury, his faces no longer looking angry but annoyed. The Night Fury let out a little 'coo' sound. Toothless pushed his head against the Night Furies for a few seconds before pulling away. Hiccup quickly guessed why Toothless was acting like this.

This was his son.

"Toothless," The Night Fury quickly looked a little scared. Toothless seemed to be communicating with his son, looking back and forth between him and Hiccup. Toothless quickly ran over to Hiccup and placed his head under Hiccup's hand. The Night Fury looked at the scene with wide eyes. Hiccup guessed that this must be a first for him, that the dragon must of never seen anything outside of the Hidden World.

As Hiccup slowly began to walk over to the young Night Fury he suddenly heard a voice calling to him.

"Hiccup!" Before anyone could react Astrid and little Stoick came rushing through some bushes, Astrid now holding her axe in one hand while the hold held onto Stoick's hand.

"Astrid!" Hiccup said in surprise.

"Are you okay?" She asked, with a slight panic. Hiccup smiled.

"More than okay." He told her as he placed his hand on top of Toothless' head. Astrid looked at the dragon with wide eyes, her axe falling to the floor.

"Is that..." she began to ask, but couldn't finish her sentence. Toothless rushed over to her with a gummy smile and began to push his head against her. Astrid's face broke with a large smile as she scratched his head. "Hey boy! My Thor, look at you. You've barley changed."

"Still the same old useless reptile." Hiccup said. Toothless quickly looked over at Hiccup with narrow eyes. Astrid laughed.

"Aww come on, you know how Hiccup can be. He's just as dorky as the rest of them." Astrid told him.

"Hey you married me." Hiccup pointed out.

"Remind me again why?" Astrid asked. Hiccup let out a fake shocked gasp while Toothless laughed.

"Why are you up here anyway, didn't I tell you and Stoick to wait on the ship?" Hiccup told her.

"We did but then we heard dragon cries and got worried." Astrid told him.

"Where's Stoick now?" Hiccup asked as he looked around for him.

"He's right her- Stoick?" Astrid quickly realised that her son was no longer beside her. Just before she could start panicking Hiccup tapped her shoulder and pointed. Astrid turned around to see Stoick and the Night Fury were both staring at each other. They both looked nervous but curious at the same time.

Hiccup almost felt like he was watching his 15 year old self when he bonded with Toothless for the first time. He remembered how scared he was, but at the same time couldn't help but be drawn to this amazing creature he had shot down.

He watched as Stoick slowly began to walk over to the Night Fury, only to have it growl a little and step back. When he stopped moving the dragon stopped growling. Stoick almost looked stuck on what he could do.

"Stoick." Hiccup called out softly. Stoick looked over to his father. "Put out you hand and look away."

"Why?" Stoick asked with confusion.

"Trust me, son. Look away and put out your hand. And don't look." Hiccup instructed. Stoick nodded. He looked at the Night Fury one more time before following his father's instructions. He turned his head away and slowly raised his left hand in front of him and in the air. The Night Fury looked at the hand with curiosity. Slowly the dragon moved forward an till his head was meters away from the hand.

A second ticked by. Followed by another second. And another.

Then the dragon leaned forward and placed his head on Stoick's small hand. Stoick flinched a little before slowly turning around and looking at the dragon. The dragon pulled back and gave the human a gummy smile Stoick smiled as he placed both hands on the dragons face.

"This is so cool!" Stoick said with excitement. Hiccup smiled as he, Astrid and Toothless walked over to the pair.

"That's just like how I bonded with Toothless." Hiccup told his son. Stoick looked at his father and then the adult Night Fury.

"Is that Toothless?" Stoick asked. Hiccup nodded.

"This sure is." Hiccup answered as he placed a hand on Toothless. Toothless moved his head a little as Hiccup began to scratch him. He then looked at the young boy and moved forward a little. Stoick slowly put his hand out. Toothless sniffed the hand before giving it a small lick. Stoick giggled.

"So, what are you going to name him?" Astrid asked. Stoick looked at his mother.

"I can name him?" Stoick said with a surprised voice.

"Sure, if that's okay with Toothless of course." She said as she looked down at Toothless, who seemed to be sniffing her a lot. Toothless gave her a gummy smile. "I take that as a yes."

Stoick looked at the young Night Fury, trying to come up with an idea of what to call this dragon. "Hey bud," Hiccup said, "since you were panicking earlier does that mean you son was the one who crashed onto the island?"

"Cash," Stoick whispered. Suddenly is eyes widened. "What about Nightcrash?" The dragon, Nightcrash, seemed to like it as he began to jump up and down.

"That's a nice name. At least it wasn't something silly like your father would of named him." Astrid said as she looked over to Hiccup, who was rolling his eyes.

"Come on, really?" He asked. Astrid smiled at her husband.

"Hey can we go flying?" Stoick asked. Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

"Urr," was all that was coming out of his fathers mouth.

"Please? Please?" Stoick begged.

Before either of them could say anything Toothless was suddenly nudging Hiccup with begging eyes. Hiccup looked at Toothless, a smile breaking of his face. He then looked at Astrid. "You wanna ride with Stoick?"

Astrid couldn't help but let out a small sigh as she smiled. "Get you're butt on that dragon, Haddock."

Hiccup smiled. "Sure thing, Mrs Haddock."

As Hiccup climbed onto Toothless Astrid helped Stoick climb onto Nightcrash. Hiccup looked down at Toothless. "Where to bud?"

Toothless let out a little growl before leaning down. Hiccup quickly held on tightly to Toothless as the dragon leapt into the air. Nightcrash quickly followed after his father. Once the dragons were level in the sky Hiccup turned his head round to look at Astrid and Stoick. Astrid was holding Stoick in place while he looked around in the air, a big smile on his face.

Hiccup began to look round himself, remembering the feeling of being this high in the air. He feeling of the wind hitting his face, the air colder than on ground. The feeling of being... free.

Hiccup leaned down and placed a hand on Toothless' side. "Hey bud, you know this isn't the way to Berk, right?" Toothless let out a confident growl. "So where are we going?" Toothless gave him another growl before looking over at Nightcrash and Hiccup's family. Hiccup's eyes widened. "Wait, you don't mean-" Toothless growled again. "You know you girlfriend doesn't particularly like me." Toothless gave him a little laugh. "Geeze thanks."

"Hiccup, where are we going?" Astrid called over. Hiccup turned around and gave her a smile.

"Wanna see Stormfly again?" Hiccup asked. Astrid's eyes widened.

"You serious?" She said with shock.

"Come on, one last adventure?"


End file.
